Seeds
by Enigmatic Magus
Summary: Everyone else is doing it, why can't I? A collection of snippets, false-starts, ideas, and shorts that may or may not grow into something bigger.
1. BTVS YAHF

"So what are you going as, Willow?" Buffy asked, trying to deflect the conversation from her relationship with Angel. Not that she minded the topic, but she got the distinct feeling her redheaded friend wasn't planning much of a night for herself.

"Oh, I don't know... probably a ghost; it's what I do best on Halloween." The reply was almost canned in it's offhandedness.

"A ghost." Buffy repeated, flatly. Setting the book they'd liberated from Giles' secret stash, the Slayer looked her friend in the eye and said "I'm supposed to find something like that," she motioned towards the book with a flick of her wrist, "while you're going to cut two holes in a white sheet? I don't think so."

Willow, not having expected so forceful a response, sat there with her mouth hanging open before shutting it with a little click as her teeth met. She'd been about to protest, but saw the look in her friend's eye, and realized it would be useless. At least, useless now. Maybe she could say she couldn't find anything later?

Buffy climbed to her feet, glancing down at her quiet friend for a moment, before nodding to herself. "Come on. I know what I'm looking for, lets go see what we can find for you!" And without waiting, the blonde walked out of the library officer, followed shortly by her now-worried friend.

A little while later found them sitting in Willow's room, various books and magazines spread out on both the bed and the floor, and two girls sitting in front of an impressive little PowerBook.

"Come on, Will, you've been glancing at this thing ever since we started looking here. There's obviously something on it you think would work!" Buffy said.

Willow fidgeted nervously in her chair, before reaching for the mouse. Before her hand landed on it, however, she turned to Buffy, her expression changing from one of nervousness and worry to utter seriousness. "You can't tell anyone about these... how I got them... wasn't exactly..." she trailed off, thinking about how best to describe it.

"Illegal?" Buffy asked, somewhat surprised. While she knew Willow on the computer was quite a far cry from the Willow she saw at school, she hadn't really thought the things she'd done for them in the past had been blatantly illegal.

"Not quite," Willow shook her head, trying to find the best way to describe the lawlessness that resided on the internet. "Well... okay, I suppose that works best, but it's not so clear-cut."

Buffy just shrugged. "I won't ask, and I won't tell."

Willow nodded, and turned back to the computer, opening up an image viewer and displaying some of the concept art she'd acquired from a game developers less-than-adequately protected file servers.

"Hey, she could work. It's sort of... not detailed enough to tell much, but I think I have some swimming goggles-" Buffy's speech cut off as Willow tapped a key, and the image changed to one that was obviously hand-drawn, but in relatively high detail. She could tell the character was the same as before, but where as the previous one had had red hair peeking out from behind a pair of tech-looking goggles (which would fit Willow) this one had... things. They almost looked like insect legs. Sickly-looking skin, with the occasional protruding nodule, was exposed in a rather risque-manner by a suit that looked both insect-like and organic. But most impressively were the bony wing-like protrusions from her back, looking fairly menacing and utterly deadly.

"Oh, wow... I can see why you hesitated..." Buffy said, finally.

Willow nodded. "It's okay. I don't think I could pull that off. You can tell some guy drew that, I don't... well, I couldn't... I wouldn't know where to begin. Maybe the first one?" Willow went to close the image, but Buffy surprised her by jumping to her feet.

"Are you kidding? Willow, it's Halloween! Come as you aren't! That first one might be you, but this... we have to do it! It's so out there... Can you print that picture? I need to get my mom's help, but trust me. You'll be the talk of the town when Halloween is over."

Willow, her skin already light, paled at this. "Umm.. Buffy? I don't really think-"

"No! I've decided. We've got to make Snyder pay for forcing us to dress up, and I say the best way to do that is to throw it in his face by having fun! This... This is perfect for that! I think I have some fairy wings we can start with for those... things... and we can search the town's shops for a way to make that suit, but seriously, you're going to be an awesome-looking bug-lady thing!"

Willow winced, wondering why she'd bothered showing Buffy the picture in the first place, and knowing now she was committed. As The Slayer headed for the door, she glanced over her shoulder at her friend, and asked "what's that... person? Demon? What's the name?"

Willow, watching her printer slowly spit out a piece of paper with the image permanently inked on it, didn't bother to look up as she replied. "Kerrigan. Infested Kerrigan."

* * *

A/N: You're kidding, right? **_NOBODY'S_** done this before? Geeze, you'd think someone would have thought of it. I posted the premise a few months back in the spacebattles forum for plot bunnies or whatnot, but that was me. Since this is a collection of ficlets that may or may not be expanded, I figure I should explain while I'm down here. I hate YAHF fics that cross Buffy Halloween with things that weren't out/invented/thought-up when the season aired. I'll read them, but there's a real challenge in suspending my disbelief when Xander plays World of Warcraft in 1998. I'm also a stickler for accuracy. Today, we have Macbooks and imacs and all that, back in '98, there was the PowerBook. I know Willow used Apples, and she had a laptop. Unless she hacked the system and had Steve Jobs send her a MacBook prototype, it was a Powerbook. EOD. That said, Starcraft was being created/worked on in '98, and it's reasonable to assume that someone with the technical skills, free-time, and interest could have found some unsecured network connection and raided a folder of concept art. Too big a stretch? Maybe. But at least Starcraft was shown at E6 1996 (albeit a crappy version using the Warcraft 2 engine) so there was reason enough to know about it. Anyway, I digress; from here, Willow pulls it off, is Kerrigan for a night, and starts to paint Sunnydale red. She also has a little zergling larva that she orders into a drone, then a hatchery, in an attempt to start up a powerbase on earth, before the spell ends. Of course, the hive remains, slowly growing without its leader, while season 2 continues, and oh, Willow's magic abilities are now Psionic/Ghost abilities. Eventually the zerg attack, and it's up to the scoobies to stop them.

And then there's the whole next season, where something has survived. And is subservient to Willow. Because I'd like to see the Initiative versus Willow's Zerg. The Initiative, and others.


	2. Star Wars: False Start

"Sithspawn," Sef spat, before turning towards the figure sitting in a chair nearby, "they're on to us, Captain; fighters coming in fast."

"Better here than during lift-off. How much time before we can make the jump to Hyperspace?"

Glancing at the console before him, Sef grimaced, before turning back to the man in charge, "another four minutes, give or take a few seconds."

"We'll just have to ensure our shields last that long, then, won't we? Tarc?"

The Aqualish sitting at the weapons console flipped a switch, and turned to the captain, "Shields fully charged; weapon systems online. Gunnery crews standing by for orders."

Pausing for a moment, Captain Joss Dorn looked out at the expanse of stars, before turning to Sef. "Suggestions?"

Sef winced internally, but outwardly, replied with the careful, "nothing you probably haven't thought of yourself, Joss."

He nodded, and flipped a switch, activating the ship-wide intercom, "All right you all, listen up, our deception didn't last as long as we'd liked, and we've got company coming in fast. All gunnery stations fire on the fighters, with half-powered blasts. All we need is four minutes to get out of here, and we'll be back to Nar Shadda faster than a Hutt to a mud hole."

Flipping the intercom off, Joss glanced at his two immediate subordinates, a moment before the ship vibrated as the first laser blasts struck their shields.

"Where'd those fighters come from, Sef?" Joss asked, as he begun rotating the ship along it's central axis and dissipating the fighters blasts amongst it's two shields.

"A single frigate, probably the only thing they could pull of patrol in the area."

"When this is over, I'll have to send a cred or two to whoever left a gap that big in their defensive network," the captain joked, a moment before the viewport flashed as a nearby laser blast struck the shields. "Their status?"

"They don't seem to care much about us, sir, their shields are down. Looks like they expect the fighters to take care of everything," Sef said, as he watched the timer for the Hyperdrive slowly counting down.

"Well then, let's bloody their noses a little. Open the giftbox."

Tarc grunted an affirmative as he punched a button an a special jury-rigged console nearby, and a red light nearby began flashing for a moment, before going solid. "Door's open."

"Fire when we have tone," the captain said, flipping one of the screens before him to show the aft sector of space, currently occupied by the seemingly-uncaring frigate."

"Firing," Tarc said, a moment before the ship shuddered again, this time as something left it. Onscreen, the captain grinned as the rear-firing missile reached out across the distance in a hurry, before impacting with the frigate with a flash of light.

While nowhere near as powerful as the newer Proton Torpedoes the Republic was deploying against the Confederate forces, the military-surplus Torpedo Captain Joss had stored away was still powerful enough to do visible damage to the larger ship. Its starboard Engine flared noticeably, turning the damaged side of ship away. However, after a moment, it was apparent the engine was uncontrolled as the ship began spinning in space, the glow from the engine continuing to grow, before suddenly exploding, taking a good fifth of the ship with it.

The fighters buzzing around us suddenly pulled away, quickly distancing themselves from the seemingly more-dangerous ship they'd been circling.

"Shield status?"

"Shields holding at 78%, Captain" Tarc replied, gruffly.

"Well, it looks like our little surprise came in handy, should be a smooth ride home, now. Make the jump when we're ready. And have the crews stand down."

* * *

Star Wars. How I loved you. Then the Yuuzhan Vong came, and everything went to shit. Such is life, I suppose. This fic was to be my take on the whole light-side/Dark-side debate. Much like I do in KOTOR, Jedi Knight, and any other game where you have moral choices, I tend to toe the line of mediocrity. So I wanted to write a story about a force-capable smuggler who's bag of tricks are as mixed as his actions during the turmoil of the Empire's growth following the end of Revenge of the Sith. needless to say, this would be an AU by the end. I cant resist interacting with main characters. Or maybe I just don't want to... In any case, I had little pre-planned for this. No real outline, no idea where or how it would end... merely a thingy. So yeah. It's not really going beginnign line was WAY heavy on the letter 'S.' trying to imagine someone with a lisp reading this out loud always made me chuckle. And who put the 'S' in 'lisp', anyway? Probably the same jerk who spelled 'phonics' with a 'PH.'

Oh, BTW, in the end of the Yuuzhan Vong story arc, Luke realizes there's no Dark or Light side, really, just the force, and those who influence it. Basically, what I'd assumed all along. Then in the NEXT Arc, shit happens, cool people die, and he takes it all back, saying the Force is alive and some of it is good, and some of it is bad, and you can't toe the line, you have to pick a side. I get the feeling different authors have different ideas, and tend to fight it out like that over time. All I know is, I love Force-Healing myself after getting shot by a Stormtrooper who survived my Force Lightning assault. Who's going to play SW:TOR?


	3. A Pokegirls Fic I know, right?

Kuja ran ahead of Terry through the tall grass that bordered the woods their hometown was situated beside.

"Don't go into the woods!" someone called at them, the distance making the shout faint and easily ignored. At 8 years of age, both boys were too old to believe the stories about monster women in the forest. After all, the ones in town never hurt anyone, right?

Pressing ahead, and ignoring the shouts as they always did, the two emerged in a clearing a moment later, a break near the beginning of the woods that the two had discovered a month or so before. It was deep enough in the woods to silence the sounds of the nearby town, but still within ten-minutes running-time.

Terry, emerging from the trees behind him, stopped for a moment, panting for air as he rested with his hands on his knees. After a moment, he straightened up, and frowned at his friend, "don't run so fast. You know I'm not as fast as you."

"But you're slow," Kuja responded, looking around the clearing for their fort. In reality, it was a couple large fallen branches leaning up against a large tree, but to them, it was their private home-away-from-home, and, upon spotting it, he made his way over to it, like before.

"Kuja, wait... Someone's coming," Terry said, as they neared it. Kuja's protests were cut off as someone did indeed enter the clearing.

Unlike the two young boys, this woman was obviously not human, her blue and white body covered with a fine layer of feathers, and she wore no clothing. When she caught sight of the two, she sneered, but said nothing.

"This is our fort!" Kuja said, finally. She was obviously a pokegirl, and her nudity wasn't as effective on him as it might have been on older males. Instead, her presence was what bothered him. How dare this wild creature come into their secret clearing?

"I see," the woman said, glancing at the assortment of branches surrounding the 'fort' like a miniature fence. Before Kuja could respond to this, Terry spoke up, "Who are you? Are you lost?"

The woman again glanced at the two children with distain, then trembled briefly, before turning and walking back into the bushes she'd just emerged from.

"Come on, Terry," Kuja said, starting to follow her.

"But..."

"We have to make sure she doesn't come back," Kuja said, confidently.

"But it's colder that way," Terry protested, feeling an oddly cool breeze come from the direction the pokegirl had disappeared.

"You're just scared," Kuja said, ignoring the cold breeze himself.

"Am not!" Terry protested, glaring. Kuja shrugged, and pointed at the bushes, "then lets go."

Nodding, the other boy fell in behind Kuja, but stopped he stopped when something sparkling caught his attention.

"Look!"

"What?"

"The ground where she was standing. It's got..." Terry bent down, and poked the area the woman had been standing with a stick. "It looks like ice," he said. Indeed, the ground around where she'd been standing was covered in quickly-melting ice crystals. Kuja glanced at them, but since he hadn't discovered them himself, he dismissed them as unimportant.

Continuing on, and hearing Terry hurrying behind him to catch up, Kuja walked into the woods on the far side of the clearing, pushing away the large leaves that hung in his way.

"Another one!" terry said, pausing them. At their feet another patch of ice crystals lay, thawing slower than the last due to the added shade. Kuja frowned and pushed on, this time keeping an eye out for another batch of the sparkling crystallized water. Ahead, he spotted one, and quickly passed it, as another cam into view.

"We're going kind of far," Terry said, after they passed a fourth patch. Kuja considered mocking his friend again, but he too was getting kind of tired of this himself, and he knew that if he teased Terry too much, the slightly younger boy might just go home.

Suddenly, the two found themselves in another clearing, this one darker than the prior, as taller, older trees leaned inward from all directions, blocking much of the sunlight. Of course, the sun had slipped behind some dark clouds a few minutes ago, making the clearing even less inviting.

"What's that?" Terry asked, slipping past Kuja. The two made their way over to a gleaming metal object in the middle of the clearing, it's polished gold and silver exterior not showing any signs of wear and tear from being exposed to the elements.

It was a large breastplate, with no identifying marks, and Terry turned to look at Kuja after turning it over, "do you think that lady was looking for it?"

Thinking it over, Kuja shrugged, "finders keepers. Try it on, Terry."

"But what if she gets mad?"

Kuja laughed, "she ran away from us, because we outnumber her. It's ours now."

Terry looked at Kuja dubiously, before picking the breastplate up. Kuja looked around the clearing for more dropped objects, while Terry turned it around in his hands for a few minutes. Finally, the younger boy slipped it on, moments before falling to the ground. Kuja, across the clearing, frowned.

"Terry?"

There was no response. Despite the way he often acted, Terry and Kuja were actually really good friends, and while Kuja didn't like letting other people see his softer side, Terry was important to him, helping him get into (and more importantly, _out of_) trouble.

"Terry?" He said again, louder. Making his way over to his fallen friend, he gasped as the prone body suddenly began glowing with a light so bright he couldn't look directly at it. When it was over, he knelt over his fallen friend, who looked somewhat... softer.

"T... Terry?" Kuja asked. His friend looked like he was breathing, but didn't seem to be waking up.

"That's never happened before..." someone said, behind him. Spinning, Kuja saw the blue-and-white pokegirl, and this time, visibly shivered when a gust of cold air washed over him.

"Who...?" He asked, unable to finish the sentence. The woman smirked, then, an evil, dark grin that was malicious enough to elicit a gasp from Kuja, before she turned and stared down at the sleeping Terry.

'I was going to leave you here, but this might prove... interesting," she said, before waving her hand over the fallen figure. There was another flash, and then suddenly a pair of majestic blue wings erupted from the pokegirls back. Kuja whimpered as a gust of frozen air filled the clearing, and when it cleared, Kuja sat alone in the clearing, the only sign on Terry or the girl's presence the quickly melting patch of ice crystals in the center.

Staring blankly at the spot he'd last seen his best friend, Kuja started crying. When he stumbled into town, tears still streaking his face, and told the townsfolk what happened, he was shouted at, admonished, and berated as search parties began to scour the woods for the lost child.

Nobody believed his story about a non-feral Ice-type pokegirl in the area acting without a Tamer, and his description was too accurate a depiction of the Legendary Articunt, which was even more unbelievable. Branded a liar, a trouble maker, and generally a source of bad-luck, Kuja went six years alone, as adults frowned at him wherever he went, and children avoided and mocked him.

* * *

Pokegirls? Holy geeze. Well, after reading what was out there, and trying to get past the mountain of PWP (which I've come to find has 2 meanings, "Porn with plot," and "plot? what plot?" this mountain is definitely the latter) I realized there's potential for some interesting stories. And much as I enjoy reading Ranma trying to deal with the notion that avoiding sex is now a horrible thing, I figured an OC would be far more simple a character to write than the young Saotome. Yes, I took the Name from FFIX. No, I don't know what he did. I never beat the game, I just liked the name. Never even got that far in the game; damn my memory card! Anyway, This one was a private passion for a bit. While this is all I have actually WRITTEN, I have a much longer outline for the story itself, and multiple saved IM conversations and pokedex entries for all the types I intended to use. Including some work-around on the whole "Mazoku are evil-incarnate" thing (can you guess, by now that I like Mazoku? No? Wait until NASIF 09. Oh, yes, I've planned that far ahead!) and some of those entertaining little dialogues that build a character that I sometimes do. I like to refer to them as exposition moments. Honestly, I should just have a news reporter in all my fics who occasionally interviews my characters. Exposition on demand! And yeah, pokegirls. Who'd have thought it?


	4. TCS Act 2 End

The viewscreen at the front of the bridge was displaying the radiant city hundreds of miles below. Even with the battle waging above it, the city still managed to look peaceful, it's tiered circular architecture designed from its conception to look that way. Sadly, he knew that he was in no position to stop the inevitable. But it didn't mean he couldn't try.

"You cannot do this, Chen. We both lost a part of ourselves in the war, but this... this lunacy will not solve anything!"

Captain Chen stood before him, turning to look at the Golden City for a moment before nodding sadly. "What I do must be done, just as you must try to stop me."

Commander Connor was not at all relieved to hear that. "I'm not about to let you just massacre the millions of people down there! For every monster that's pulled the strings of the government there are a thousand innocents that don't deserve what you're planning?"

Chen turned to look at him fully, his eyes narrowing. "And what of the innocents who already died? At the order of your monsters? You lost your family to the war because they chose to be there. My wife, my daughter... what did they do to warrant their fate?"

Glen shook his head. "This isn't the way to avenge them. Destroying the Golden City will destroy the very infrastructure the galaxy is built upon!"

Chen nodded. "The system has become too corrupt, the courts, the senate, the emperor, the military... all of it. There was a time the corruption could have been routed, but that time has long passed." He turned to look back at the city again, sighing deeply. "It's time to wipe the slate clean, and leave the rebuilding to future generations."

"NO!" Glen shouted, lunging futilely, and wincing in agony as the suppression field keeping him from his former friend delivered another agonizing shock.

From his pocket, Chen pulled a small remote, quickly typing in a series of numbers. Glen's heart leapt into his throat as Chen spoke again. "It is done."

Onscreen, the Golden City, center of the Galactic Empire, faded into white as the Omega Device was activated. Despite the kilometers of empty space between them ant the planet below, Glen felt the deck rumble ominously as the city reappeared. Everything looked fine, but he knew from experience that all the magic and technology had failed during the initial burst, and as the millions of people tried to figure out what happened, the next phase of the device activated.

Far too small to see from space, a meter-wide maw into nothingness appeared above the city, lightning crackling as the atmosphere rushed to fell then never-ending void on the opposite side. Its pull increases exponentially, from a simple vacuum to a magnetic attraction, then finally a gravitational pull. The few who knew what was happening had just as futile a chance to escape as the frightened civilians panicking as the golden spires of the city began to collapse inward, the rubble failing to fall to the ground, and instead falling into the nothingness that was now becoming visible from the ground.

Before long, the maw had begun pulling in objects from the ground, and as people ran to the city gates, frightened and panicked, those closer to the center of the city began to feel the pull as well, a lightening of their steps and a sensation of weightlessness that failed to inspire awe as it would any other time. Instead, it was with a renewed terror that those people pushed ahead, until the pull became to great, and they wailed as their feet left the ground, pulled back and up towards the danger they had tried to escape.

From space, the effects were now noticeable, structures falling inwards towards the center of the city, plumes of dust swirling inward to vanish.

Glen watched is stunned silence as everything he had vowed to protect was irrevocable destroyed.

Chen, however...

"It should have detonated by now..."

The words didn't register at first, but when he heard the crunch as Chen crushed the remote in his fist, ignoring the blood that seeped from his clenched fingers, it took his attention from the devastation playing out below. "What?" he asked, shocked by the look of outrage on the Pirate King's face. Was this not what Chen had desired?

"Matrus, it _has_ to be. Damn him. Damn him!" Chen lunged at the ships controls, quickly ordering the ship up and away from the planet below.

"What?" Glen asked again, his mind desperately searching for answers now that the universe had practically been yanked out from under him.

"That insane, bloodthirsty lieutenant of mine you met on Garrst," Chen growled through clenched teeth as he navigated through the debris field overhead.

When they had cleared most of it, Chen turned to look at the dazed Commander with fury in his eyes.

"Glen, believe me when I say that I intended to pay for what I did. This ship doesn't have the fuel to make it out of the system, and I was fully prepared to drive it into the empty field of the golden city... but Matrus..."

"I remember him, but.. what... what does he have to do with this?" Glen asked.

"Matrus had a small group of faithful zealots that sometimes spoke about the end of the universe. I thought... none of us thought that he would try to carry it out... He's the one I trusted to set the Device. He's... " Chen paled in realization. "He's the snake. The leader of the Cult of Silence."

"_He's_ the leader?" Glen asked, suddenly realizing why they had pulled out of orbit.

"This System is done for. I should have known..." Chen shook his head, looking down at his bloody hand, and letting the pieces of the remote fall to the floor with a clatter.

"I can not go much further. Honor demands I give my life for what I started. I intended to destroy the Golden City, nothing more. For that alone, I must die. But I've destroyed the most populous start system in the galaxy, and I fear it is only the beginning. If the Cult of Silence continues with its plans... there will be nothing left to rebuild what I've worked so hard to destroy."

"But.. he's your lieutenant! You've a responsibility to stop him! You can't die until he does!" Glen shouted.

Chen shook his head. "Do you really think we could search for him? My face is too well known... too hated after today to ever set foot on a planetary surface again. I'd only hold you back. And you cannot fail in this."

"But... " Glen scowled, hating it, but knowing that Chen was right, after what had just taken place... what was _still_ taking place, there was no way Chen could ever expose his face in public again. For every ally he had, there were a million people willing to kill him for what he'd just started, unplanned though it may have been. With a sigh, he relented. "Where is he?"

"He'll be heading for Station U-65."

Glen's eyes narrowed. "You were a lot better informed than intelligence ever knew, weren't you?"

The corner of Chen's mouth twitched, the ghost of a mischievous smile, "They knew. Their loyalties, however, weren't quite as absolute as you would like to think."

After all that had happened, Glen wasn't about to get upset at that accusation. "He's trying to get it back, isn't he?"

"Indeed. Knowing what we do, it certainly has the power to bring about his dark desires, twisted though they may be," Chen replied.

Glen nodded, turning to look at the doorway to the main corridor. "I'd better hurry then."

"Yes, Matrus has a head start, and a plan that can not come to pass. I'll open the way to the shuttle bay, there should be one bird in there you can use." Chen gave another ghost of a smile. " I'm pretty sure you took care my men on the way in, so I suggest you hurry."

"And you? Where will you go to watch the end you so desperately sought to bring about?"

Chen's gaze fell on the monitor, where the Capital Planet was being ravaged by the maw he had helped bring about. "Oh, I think I know where I belong; after all, I have a responsibility to the Hell I helped create."

Glen nodded. "I'll never forgive you for what you've done Chen. I'll never understand why... but at least you're willing to die for what you've done. And I think I can trust you to do the right thing, now."

With that, Glen turned and walked off the bridge.

Chen watched the heavy metal doors shut behind him, before sighing. "I've never forgiven myself either; from the moment I made my plans," he muttered, before punching in a new set of coordinates. The ship was halfway back to the Capital Planet when a Shuttle rocketed out of the bay and clawed for deep space. Already, he could feel a pulling sensation ahead, the gravity well of the weapon he had initiated already reaching halfway across the solar system.

As the ship's speed steadily increased, and the planet ahead of him began to break up as it was pulled into nothingness, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the only remaining photo of his family. Eyes glistening, he traced the lines of his wife's face with his fingertips, leaving bloody streaks down the side of the image. Then he reached back and unfolded the last third of the photo, which had been reversed so long the fold had developed cracks. Looking at the smiling young man who would grow up to be his most tenacious rival and best friend, Chen looked at the overall image, everyone together and happy, in a time where death and tragedy was the last thing on everyone's mind. And he died with a sad smile on his face.

* * *

Oooh! I broke the rules! This is actually part of an original story I intend to write. Some scenes, like this, are pretty much done in my head. Others are still vague. And for the most part, I'm writing fanfiction in the hope that I will, in time, eventually become good enough a writer to put this idea to paper and publish it.

As you can read, It's an epic sci-fi/Fantasy space opera, and despite the technical-looking scene here, it's actually something like Star Wars meets Tenchi-Muyo, with both Magic and Technology, and all that jazz. Honestly, The idea has evolved a ton from the initial concept I dreamed up while in Boot camp, and now I have three whole stories that are just waiting to be written... I just have to get comfortable with my writing style to give them a shot at seeing the light of day. So consider this a sneak peek.


	5. Rosario Vampire 1

I was on a bus.

Not the most amazing of places to realize you were at, but considering I had no idea how I got there, it was something to think about. I also didn't recognize the area around me. Actually, I realized just how badly I didn't recognize it when a car went by _on the wrong side of the street._ And almost as if to drive the fact hope, three more went by, the third a black-and-white police car.

"So glad you could make it, Transfer Student," the driver called back at me. I looked up in surprise. Actually, it was shock. That had not been in English. But I had understood it. He was seated on the wrong side of the bus, and yet, seemed to be perfectly fine driving in the face of everything I'd grown used to in the USA. So I could at least figure out where I wasn't.

Not trusting myself to speak the proper language just yet, I nodded, and his almost glowing eyes, hidden in the shadow cast by the brim of his hat shifted to the only other passenger on the bus. A rather plain-looking kid with somewhat-spiky black hair and a rather chagrined expression on his face as he stared out the window.

With a sigh, I reached up to adjust my glasses, then froze. It looked normal, for a hand... but it didn't look like _my _hand. Before I could turn to look in the window for my reflection, the bus entered an ominously dark tunnel cut into the side of a mountain.

"New student, huh?" The driver asked the other guy, while I silently tried to figure out when my hair had straightened out and grown about a foot.

"Y-yeah," the unassuming response.

"Well, I hope you said your goodbyes... once we're out of this lengthy tunnel, you see the academy... and then, who knows? You might never see anything ever again!"

"What!?" The kid shouted. No longer plain. As the tunnel ended, and light flooded the bus, I saw him glance out the window with a bit more attention, and a moment later, my gaze too was on the world outside.

While before the tunnel the world had seems like a boring, bright countryside in a mountainous region, this foggy, overcast, dreary landscape was decorated with numerous tombstones and skulls. Frowning, I realized that I could actually see that they were skulls. The glasses I had gotten recently had never been this helpful, and as I brushed another lock of long _blonde_ hair out of my face, I wiggled in my seat, reassured I was still a guy, at least, and stood up as I felt the bus slowing down.

A minute later, me and the kid were standing at the end of a rather long path into the woods, bags in-hand (and I wondered just what were in my bags, since I sure hadn't packed them) and watching the bus disappear down the road.

I was also kind of confused by my outfit. A large red greatcoat with gold trim, black pants, and leather boots that looked somewhat militant. Suffice it to say, it wasn't something I could recall owning, or ever wanting to wear. But it felt natural, and I had other things to worry about, like where I was, so I shrugged it off and turned to the kid.

"So..." I said.

The kid jumped and I grinned. "Settle down. These can't be real."

"What _is_ this place!?" He replied, staring at me in wide-eyed shock.

"I don't really know. Before I was on the bus, I... I was..." I trailed off, trying to remember where I had been. And suddenly, I realized I didn't know a lot of things I should. Where was home? What was my address? I could remember my name, the way I was supposed to look, my friends back home, my family... My eyes widened. The mental pictures had all been distorted. My roommates face was more angular, and I _know_ she didn't have red eyes, but the image in my head was almost insistent.

"Umm... well, I'm Tsukune Aono." he offered.

"I'm... Kyle." I had actually been forced to think about that for a second. Then I frowned, as no last name was forthcoming. And wasn't that something to set your nerves on edge, when in an unfamiliar place, speaking an unfamiliar language, surrounded by skulls and tombstones in a forest straight out of a horror movie.

"Just 'Kyle' for now, I replied, before blinking. He'd used a modifier. A familiar modifier. "Japanese!" I shouted, finally recognizing something. Now that I knew what language I was speaking and hearing, I recalled a lot of useless information, as well as an understanding that in Japan, they drive on the opposite sides of the road than they do in America. So I was in Japan.

Looking around at the landscape again, I frowned. I had been in japan. Now it looked like I was in a theme park. Or Hell.

"A creative attempt at hell, in any case," I muttered.

"What?" Aono asked.

"Nothing. Nothing, just... talking to myself. Strange place to put a graveyard, isn't it?"

Aono chuckled nervously. "Or maybe it was a bad place to put the road?"

I nodded. "You can write a letter to the city council later complaining about the lack of respect such a road entails."

"Ha!' he laughed, an honest laugh, that was sadly cut off as someone ran into him with a bicycle at speed.

That she had yelled out a warning was a point in her favor. But the fact that she had waited until the last second took that point away. Aono, somehow, had ended up under the bike, but on top of the rider, and when the dazed look on his face wore off (not that I could blame him for having one, that had looked somewhat painful for all involved, the bike included) he gasped at the pink-haired girl who's thigh he was touching.

At this point, I realized that, while I didn't know where exactly I was, this situation was far too obvious to not recognize. While he tried to apologize for being in the way ( earning a quick label in my head as "Hapless, helpful main character") the girl, Moka (no last name given) announced she was a Vampire, and I groaned as she latched onto Aono's neck.

After he finished running around in a panic after she released him, she finally noticed me. "Oh! And who's your friend?

"You're a vampire!" Aono shouted, ignoring her.

"I'm Kyle. He's Tsukune Aono." I said. Meanwhile, he rambled off a short list of characteristics from classic vampire myths.

"I see..." She turned to Tsukune. "Do you not like vampires?"

"Are you kidding, I love vampires!" Aono said, suddenly sounding nervous again.

Moka, however, seemed to miss his nervousness, and smiled. "Great! We can be friends then!"

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes (And filing _her_ under "Main Character2 – flighty supernatural being, potential love-interest for Aono") I nodded at her.

She turned to Tsukune, bowing. "I'm sorry about that, but if it makes you feel any better, you have delicious blood!"

As she retrieved her bike, I grabbed Tsukune's shoulder, doing my best not to dig my rather sharp-looking nails into him.

"We'll catch up," I said, when it became apparent she was planning on waiting for us. "alright, I have to take care of some things.. Hopefully we'll meet later!" She said cheerfully before pedaling away at high speed.

"Aono... I take it you weren't expecting that?"

He merely shook his head.

"I think... well... I don't know what to think. She seemed nice, at least. For a leech."

"Yeah, she... what!? A leech? Oh my god, she thought she was a vampire! She bit me!"

I looked closely at his neck, then frowned. "You wouldn't happen to be some sort of disguised demon, monster, or other supernatural creature, would you?"

"What!? No!" he replied, looking shocked.

"Premier martial artist with bizarre-yet-effective techniques you tend to call by name every time you use them?"

He began to inch away from me. "Umm... no."

"Alien?" I asked, with a smirk.

He just shook his head.

"Then you probably just met your first vampire. Your neck isn't wounded at all."

"Whaaaaat!?" he shouted, reaching up to his neck as if he couldn't believe it.

"Man, someone just shoved two canines into your jugular. Now, I know you're capable of imagining what two holes that size would do without pressure on them. So either you healed them fast enough not to bleed out... or she did."

Taking his hand away from his neck slowly and looking at it in shock, he nodded, before looking at me. I could tell he wanted to ask something, but he didn't as the building ahead came into view through the creeping fog. It was a run-down looking place, that fit the setting perfectly, and definitely conjured up thoughts of a haunted house. The few uniform-clad figures entering the doors with scoolbags in hand was the only clue we had that _this _was the school.

"And... what are you?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but a flash of blonde in the corner of my eye gave me pause. "That... I'm not quite sure of, yet."

* * *

This is something new. And I just can't continue it. I can't! Why? Because it's _ANOTHER_ SI fic. No genderbending, in fact, no Ranma, this time. Instead Rosario + Vampire and... do you really want to know? Google "Maritsu Evil Academy." Anyway, Yeah. Crossover/SI. From me. You know why I like SIs? Because it's what I think everytime I throw a manga at the wall and say "damn it, if _I _were there, none of that shit would have happened!" Only, I know that, if I were there, I'd be beaten up, killed, maimed, or relegated to cameo character in a heartbeat. So, you know, a little power infusion here, some pre-knowledge or situation awareness, and tah-dah! That's not really me. It's an idealized me given powers to cope in a universe that would chew me up and spit me out like a roach in the transmission of an Abrams tank. But it's fun. Sometimes.

Then you get writers block, and everyone's asking you to keep writing, if you're dead yet, what happened, and it's frustrating as hell, and finally you pop out something new in a spare moment, and that gets you... new fans. And angers the pre-established ones. So I suppose I should finish up the next chapter of my real fics and leave this one alone for now.


	6. Soulsoup

I had not been a nice person.

Growing up under t_heir_ thumb, I think everyone chafed. Some chafed a little, I chafed a lot.

When the call went out to fight, I joined up. When I brought down my first trooper, I enjoyed it. When I killed my first innocent, I enjoyed that too. And when they cornered me in the little shack I had set up in the woods, I was just about to enjoy another.

But this? This goes beyond fair.

Justice was served strapping me into the chair and throwing the switch.

Finding myself floating along in a river of unfamiliar faces was bizarre. I suppose I should have gone with the flow. Instead, I tried to get away.

And now... now I wish I could get back. Back to that river, which, I realized only after the fact, had been peaceful. Had been _right._

Because now... Now I was trapped forever with something that I couldn't recognize, in a prison cell of my captor's making. Feeling energy, sharp and _electric_, flow through me again and again, as my captor uses my prison without realizing the torture he inflicts upon me.

I had not been a nice person.

But I didn't deserve this.

* * *

A/N: Matt and I had been talking the other night about FFVII materia, and how it's the solidified lifestream, which is basically soulsoup. So technically, if the souls were aware, you have a rather nightmare-fuel-ish I-have-no-mouth-and-I-must-scream deal going on. I suppose it would have been worse if the person in the fic had been an innocent killed by a bad person with, say, a Bolt2 or a Fire3, then find themselves trapped in a corresponding materia, but whatever.


	7. Untitled Star Wars SI

I rubbed at the scabs on my left wrist gingerly, the remnants of a torture harness' restraints barely visible beneath the cuff of my new uniform's sleeve. Ignoring the dull aches of my final session, I looked up into the face of the man across from me. How he managed to scowl and smile at the same time was something I'd probably be pondering for years to come, but at least I had years, now.

On the table before me, between myself and the leader of this _galaxy_ sat a sheet of paper. Or what looked like paper, but everyone insisted was flimsiplast. Ignoring the bruises from the restraints (and cramps, and aches and pains) I read over the document, which was helpfully translated into characters I could read.

"Your terms, as specified," Emperor Palpatine drawled as I started to read.

I nodded in agreement, before reaching for a pen. "Looks right," I replied. Then I looked him in the eye. "What about your sycophantic minions? I don't want to play jurisdiction games or deal with backroom politics. I'm doing this as a job for you, and while you may find their petty squabbling entertaining, I'd rather not have to dance around them."

Palpatine's grin disappeared. "You know their secrets, and their loyalty. You have the upper hand with the ones who disappoint me."

"And those that are loyal?"

He shrugged. "They will not interfere."

I frowned. "So, as far as the disloyal are concerned, I'm getting just enough rope to hang myself with."

Palpatine grinned, "Be sure that you don't actually hang yourself, then. And I would avoid giving them anything to use against you."

I couldn't help it, I snorted, waving the paper at him. "With this, I think they'll have plenty of ammunition to use against me, no matter what I try to do."

"Do your job, Commander, and I'll see to it that you get the recognition you require to avoid those kinds of problems," The Emperor commanded.

I bit back a smart remark and signed my name. One of the silent attendants stepped forward and took the document, before disappearing through a darkened doorway.

"Well, your majesty, it seems I have a deal to fulfill. Is the team assembled?"

"As we speak," came the curt reply.

"Then, by your leave?" I asked, bowing slightly.

"One moment, Commander," The Emperor said, stopping me in my tracks. I turned to look at him with a frown, confused. "'The Rebellion must not be destroyed. Deny them their best, allow them their inconsequential victories, and build your forces up to combat the approaching threat.' Those were your words. I've given you the means to cripple the Rebellion, and you are now sworn to do so at my behest. Succeed, and stay in a position desired by trillions, and attained by few. Fail, and I will see to it your suffering lasts a hundred lifetimes."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry as the yellow eyes bore into mine with an intensity only attainable by a Sith Lord. "You tortured me, and I resisted. You asked, and I volunteered. This task is the ultimate test of what I know, and what I can do. You've given me the lever and the fulcrum, it's time I moved the galaxy."

Palpatine flashed a smile and nodded. "Well said. Go forth, Commander, and bring justice to my Empire!"

I grinned back. "'For a safe and secure society,'" I quipped, before slipping out the main door to the conference room.

In the hall, I felt my second in command fall into step beside me. "Captain Jade. How is your blade work coming along?" I asked, casually.

In the ISB uniform, Mara Jade cut an imposing figure, but knowing her history and previous future had left me feeling more familiar. After a terse introduction, we'd managed to develop a working relationship. She hated that I'd ended her career as an Imperial Hand, but given her new role, she couldn't, and wouldn't complain. "Ask me again when we're not surrounded by people who aren't allowed to know," she muttered.

I couldn't help grinning. "Very well. The Emperor informs me that our team is assembled, I assume they're still in the dark?"

Mara nodded, "Lieutenant Solo is suspicious, due to his incident. Lieutenant Katarn is intelligent enough to figure out something is planned, but barring a security breach of unprecedented proportions, he's clueless as to what it may be. The rest are well versed in Imperial decorum."

My grin didn't fade as I shrugged. "'Hurry up and wait,' I imagine, goes much further than the Empire, Captain."

"If you insist, Commander," Jade replied. Ahead of us, a pair of stormtroopers came to attention as we approached, and Mara quietly told me "This is it," as we drew near. Ignoring the Stormtroopers, I waited for the door to open, before stepping inside, Jade a meter behind and in step with me.

Coming to an abrupt stop, I glanced around the room as its occupants came to attention. They stood motionlessly where they had been standing or sitting, and I briefly surveyed the room, admiring the view of early-morning Coruscant beyond the plastisteel windows, and the gray leather couches and padded chairs scattered about the room. A lounge of some sort, then. "Captain?" I said, turning to look at Mara before motioning towards a clear area of the floor.

"Fall in!" Captain Jade snapped. Behind me, I heard the assembled people rush to line up, and I suppressed another grin as I heard the shuffling stop as my internal count had reached seven.

I turned then, facing them and looking them over from the raised walkway in the center of the room, even as Jade moved down the line, checking their code cylinders against a data pad she'd pulled from a uniform pocket. It took her a couple minutes, and I spent the time trying to match names to faces. Some, like Kyle Katarn or Han Solo were far to familiar to not know. Others, however, were mere guesses. As I inspected them, they, in turn, inspected the far wall, eyes not moving from whatever invisible point they'd focused on, as was proper. Finally, Mara finished, and came back to stand beside me, handing over the Data pad and verbally confirming that they all were who they said they were.

I nodded at her, before waving her to the side. She smartly marched over to the right of the small formation, before ordering them to parade rest, taking the position herself along with them.

"Good Afternoon. I'm sure you're all curious as to why you're here." I paused to look them over again, before nodding to myself. "Some of you are fresh out of the academy, some of you are experienced officers. All of you were chosen by me, before the Emperor himself, for this task."

Locking my hands behind my back, I began to pace slowly before them. "This is a task, not a mission, and you are the task force. Some of you are proud Imperials. Some of you have had doubts. The Empire is the largest organization in the history of the galaxy. Because of this, people of all kinds get in. Some belong here." I turned to them. "_You all_, belong here." Pacing again, I continued, "others... not so much." I made my way towards the door, then paused, turning to look at them again. "Lieutenant Solo!" I barked.

The Lieutenant took a step forward and snapped to attention. "Sir!"

"You were written up for defying orders. Furthermore, a call for dismissal was filed, citing various crimes, among which were several I'm unsure are possible for humans. These charges have been dropped, and a disciplinary hearing has been scheduled for the officer who brought them up. Do you know why you are here, Lieutenant?"

Standing at attention, the stunned Lieutenant could only offer a confused "No, sir?"

"Was that a question or an answer, Lieutenant?" I asked, dryly.

"No, Sir!"

"Very good. You are here because I chose you. You have the skills and the background- And yes, I know your true background, Lieutenant- to assist me, this team, and the empire in achieving the goals you yourself desired when you applied to the Academy at Carida. Fall back in, Lieutenant."

As Solo stepped back, I resumed my pacing. "Justice. Peace. Safety. Security. These are the foundations upon which then-chancellor Palpatine formed the Empire. They are the reasons you all signed up for service, and they are what brings you here today." Turning to look them over again, I nodded. "Stand at ease."

As they relaxed marginally, turning to face me instead of the far wall, I explained quickly. "The Emperor has received reports- _compelling_ reports- that a threat exists outside the Galaxy and is steadily making its way here. This threat, these _Yuuzhan Vong_, number in the billions, possess technology on par with our best, and seek to reshape the galaxy in their image, planet-by-planet." I paused to enjoy the look of shock on their faces. "That's the bad news. The good news? We have thirty years to prepare." As the shock gave way to confusion, I continued. "Unfortunately, We won't be able to prepare, as both detailed analysis and unnamed sources have indicated that, barring a critical shift in the Imperial Paradigm, the Rebellion, weak though it may seem, is likely to overthrow the Empire in around ten years."

There were several gasps, and several officers glared at me, as if my delivery was my fault, and I nodded to myself, knowing they were where I wanted them. "The ensuing power struggles, as well as the birth of a _New Republic_ government will leave the galaxy woefully unprepared for the coming invasion. In short, the rebellion, doing what it thinks is right, dooms tens of thousands of worlds, countless species, and trillions of sentients."

The look on their faces let me know that they were hooked, and I started wrapping up my introduction. "We are not here to crush the rebellion. Lord Vader and Moff Tarkin have been tasked with that duty. We have not been tasked to take the fight to the enemy; even now, they scout us, looking for weaknesses, tracking our progress, and documenting our power. Our Emperor has forces working through known space and the unknown regions limiting what they see and hear, and controlling what they discover."

I looked them over, before grinning. "No; ladies and gentlemen, we are tasked with something far more difficult." I pointed at the window behind me, "Difficult, and yet far more rewarding." Turning to the window completely, my back to them, I finished speaking, softly. "We will bring about the critical shift in the Imperial Paradigm, and ensure that, when the Vong strike, they are met with the full fury of the Galactic Empire."

"So... _What _are we doing?" Someone asked.

I smirked, recognizing the voice from countless hours behind a keyboard. "Lieutenant Katarn, it's very simple. We will make the people love us." I turned around to look at him, the surprise on his face at having been discovered evident. "We will give them what they want; Justice. Peace. Safety. Security. By the order of Emperor Palpatine, We are to enforce the rules of the Empire as described by the Constitution of the New Order. The Empire tried ruling through fear. That way leads to ruin. We are the test. Succeed, and the Empire will adopt policies and practices set forth by us in the comping years. Fail, and we watch the Empire crumble around us, knowing that the Galaxy itself will soon follow."

"Officially, we're listed as an independent team of the Imperial Security Bureau's Internal Affairs department. Our official uniforms and pay will come from there, as will many of our initial resources. Our code name is '_Razgriz_' and all ISB commands have been briefed to render us all possible assistance."

"And Unofficially?" A woman with red hair asked.

"Unofficially... Ladies and Gentlemen," I said with a grin, spreading my arms to indicate all of them, as well as the rising sun outside. "Welcome to the Argent Dawn."

* * *

Okay, so I haven't posted anything in over a year, and then suddenly I start something totally new?

Well, not quite. I'm still not really in the mood for NASIF or AYASIF, despite the steady number of queries and requests. This has been floating around in my brain for a while, though, so I thought I'd pound it out, and see if any more was forthcoming. In the meantime, I think... I think I might just try that Rosario + Vampire SI I mentioned in an earlier 'chapter' of Seeds.

BTW, this Star Wars snippet was basically a "What if I appeared in the Emperor's Throne room sometime before A New Hope." With enough proof and fast talking, as well as finger pointing and explaining, I get myself a team of potent imperials and proceed to turn the universe on its head by fighting corruption, power abuse, and other issues that lead to public outcry against the Empire. Of course, by taking some of the Rebellion's best, we (Palpatine and I, and others, eventually) have to keep the Rebellion going to justify the constant upgrading and deployment of ships and armies. Also, we'd have to ensure that certain events either happen or don't, depending on the outcome. In the end, I think it would feel a bit like an NCIS meets Star Wars meets.. Citizen Kane? Something like that, anyway. But time to sleep. Tomorrow is the day before Thanksgiving, and I have plans.


End file.
